Australian dollar lost ground against its US counterpart on Wednesday, following the release of Australian trade balance and building approvals reports.
AUD/USD fell to a session low at 0.9352 at 6:13 GMT, after which consolidation followed at 0.9358, losing 0.45% for the day. Support was likely to be received at September 30th low, 0.9281, while resistance was to be encountered at September 23rd high, 0.9457.
Australian dollar lowered against the greenback after Australian Bureau of Statistics said in a report today that the deficit on Australian trade balance contracted less than anticipated, reaching 0.815 billion AUD in August from 1.375 billion AUD a month ago. This was the 20th consecutive month of deficit. Experts had expected that the deficit figure will contract to 0.450 billion AUD. The main factor behind this lesser deficit in August was the increased export, by 3.1%, mostly because of the considerably increased export shipments towards China. Import was supported mostly by the 5% increase in prices of consumer goods and as the usage of gold for manufacturing purposes climbed 27%. Iron ore export toward China rose 20% to reach 630 million AUD. At the same time, overall export toward China increased 11%, marking the largest climb rate since March.
Australian building approvals dropped 4.7% in August on a monthly basis, following the revised down 10.2% gain in July. Experts had expected a much lesser drop, by 1.0%. On annual basis, the number of approvals increased 7.7% in August, after the 28.8% climb in July.
Yesterday the Aussie gained ground against all of its 16 major peers, following the decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia to leave its benchmark interest rate intact at the current record low level of 2.50% at its meeting in consonance with expectations. RBA Governor Stevens’ comments were considered less dovish than expected, as he said that the positive influence of the low interest rates was just starting to be observed in economy.
Meanwhile, the Aussie was lower against the euro, with EUR/AUD cross advancing 0.46% to trade at 1.4462 at 7:14 GMT. AUD/NZD pair was gaining 0.21% on a daily basis to trade at 1.1385 at 7:15 GMT.
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